Dialoga Aquila

Elisa Faires will have a sound installation entitled “Dialoga Aquila” for the Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center’s 4th Annual Re:Happening this year on Saturday April 6th, 2013. The sound installation will include a piece I have composed and recorded of Dialoga Aquila. There will be a live performance and other live spontaneous performances throughout the evening on the location of the installation. There will be projections of celestial bodies in the installation.

Inspiration for this Piece:

John Cage’s use of star charts and chance operations as a compositional method for several pieces such as Etudes Australes and Atlas Eclipticalis. Atlas Eclipticalis was derived from celestial maps that showed the positions of stars in relation to the sun. He said that a performance ” should be like looking into the sky on a clear night and seeing the stars.”

We are all made of stardust and almost every element on Earth was formed at the heart of a star.

I will be using sounds of the stars from stellar seismology which is used by astronomers to examine the interior of the stars.

Why Elisa Needs Your Help

The composition for the RE: Happening I have written, Dialoga Aquila includes the following: voice, piano, electronics and recordings of stars. I intend on taking listeners on a musical journey through space and to the star constellation Aquila located in the Northern Sky. I have composed several harmonies and chords inspired by stars of the Aquila Constellation. There are pointillistic moments where my voice intones the sounds of the stars; it’s as if my piece is creating a sonic painting of the constellation itself in flux. The live performance will include singing and the use of electronic instruments to create a sonically space-induced environment.

The equipment needed for this project consists of the following: 1 pair of Mackie powered speakers, 4 insulated quarter-inch cables, and a star projector, all of which are essential fot making this piece, and for that matter all of my pieces, happen in a live setting.

For the past 20 years I have been in dire need of my own sound system for my performances and have never been able to afford my own. I am always dependent on some other source or person to provide me with a PA . Often times I’d have to rent one or to ask someone else to borrow one. Other times the quality of the sound system was questionable and made it difficult for myself and others really enjoy my voice. I know it sounds crazy but many of the installations and performances I have participated in have often required me to provide my own sound system/PA! With this fundraiser I can raise the money for a much needed sound system for future performanes, including future RE-Happening performances, which I always plan on participating in with new ideas and pieces to share with those who believe in the the experimental spirit of Black Mountain College.

I also hope to do this installation again at a later time in a different location in the future and hope you can be there. Please help me in my goal to obtain a sound system. I will make each of the perks worth your while.